Advice for reaching out to Reserve/ANG units in regards to a pilot slot

[JL_Pilot]

Hey guys, so after following a lot of threads on here for months, I finally decided to make an account! First off, I know there is a ton of information out there regarding this topic, but I really want to get specific answers on my current situation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Long story short...

I am currently 19 and turn 20 in a few months.
I graduate from a well-known aviation university in about 6 months with a B.S. degree - I currently have a 3.9 GPA.
I have my PPL with just about 100 hours.
Here's my dilemma: I signed up and took the AFOQT about 3 months ago. I got decent scores in all the sections, but I shockingly failed the verbal section by 1 point. Therefore, I have to wait a couple more months until I can take it again, so I can take the TBAS and get my package ready to send to units.

With that said, I have some questions that I really need some advice on.

1. Should I wait to contact units until I pass my AFOQT? Again, my scores weren't bad at all except the verbal section.

2. I have been wanting to contact and get in touch with some units I am interested in for quite some time now- specifically heavy units. However, I am very confused on how to get in contact with them. For example, a squadron I am interested in only lists a base operator phone number for a point of contact. I plan on calling that number and asking to be transferred to the squadron's manned desk I am interested in? If I connect with someone I plan on asking if they know any information on their squadron's next UPT board. If they do not know should I ask for the Commanders email or for the Pilot Hiring contact in their squadron? I am not sure if this is an appropriate way to reach out to units, but if there is another way I will definitely do that.

For the most part, I am just really confused on how to contact units and how to visit them. Again, any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for helping!!

 

[Hacker15e]

Recommend you visit the forums at Baseops.net if you don't already. The group there is current pilots, including a couple ANG unit Commanders who are actually in a position to hire.

 

[n57flyguy]

Hey guys, so after following a lot of threads on here for months, I finally decided to make an account! First off, I know there is a ton of information out there regarding this topic, but I really want to get specific answers on my current situation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Long story short...

I am currently 19 and turn 20 in a few months.
I graduate from a well-known aviation university in about 6 months with a B.S. degree - I currently have a 3.9 GPA.
I have my PPL with just about 100 hours.
Here's my dilemma: I signed up and took the AFOQT about 3 months ago. I got decent scores in all the sections, but I shockingly failed the verbal section by 1 point. Therefore, I have to wait a couple more months until I can take it again, so I can take the TBAS and get my package ready to send to units.

With that said, I have some questions that I really need some advice on.

1. Should I wait to contact units until I pass my AFOQT? Again, my scores weren't bad at all except the verbal section.

2. I have been wanting to contact and get in touch with some units I am interested in for quite some time now- specifically heavy units. However, I am very confused on how to get in contact with them. For example, a squadron I am interested in only lists a base operator phone number for a point of contact. I plan on calling that number and asking to be transferred to the squadron's manned desk I am interested in? If I connect with someone I plan on asking if they know any information on their squadron's next UPT board. If they do not know should I ask for the Commanders email or for the Pilot Hiring contact in their squadron? I am not sure if this is an appropriate way to reach out to units, but if there is another way I will definitely do that.

For the most part, I am just really confused on how to contact units and how to visit them. Again, any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for helping!!

Job Listings | Bogidope

They build a current list of units hiring. Baseops.net/flyingsquadron forums also has some more listings and specifics.

 

[kaudbron]

Just seeing this now.... plan on retaking the afoqt to get a pass on verbal, some units do not care about scores, some do, it is unit dependent, however you need to pass at a minimum if I remember correctly. I would not hesitate talking to units in the meantime. Send me a message with the units you are looking at specifically and I can let you know if I have any intel. If you are cold calling units the person you want to ask to talk to is the Pilot Recruiter, or Chief Pilot, or Pilot Section Supervisor.

 

[JL_Pilot]

Update for anyone wondering... I took the AFOQT again and did really well, and got the pass on the verbal! Anyways, for those of you wondering if you should wait to contact units until you have your AFOQT done here is the answer. You should. Pretty much all the units I contacted asked right away if I have completed the AFOQT and TBAS yet. They really would not give me any information when I told them that.

 

[MikeD]

Just to give some balance here, I didn't bother any studying for the AFOQT, got about a 79 or so. And a college GPA of 2.60.....

......And still managed to become one of 558 combat-coded pilots of the F-117 stealth program.